1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an apparatus for facilitating the loading and unloading of heavy ladders from the roof of a motor vehicle, and more particularly to the design of a ladder rack that can be actuated to swing one or more ladders from atop a utility truck to a position along side of the truck at a lower elevation to permit them to be readily removed from the rack by a workman standing on the ground.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
In my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,912, there is described a ladder rack that is adapted to be mounted on the roof of an automobile or van to facilitate the transport, loading and unloading of ladders. In this arrangement, first and second 4-bar linkage arrangements are joined together by a rotatable connecting rod. When the ladders are being transported on the roof of the vehicle, they lay flat on the rack with the plane of the ladders oriented generally parallel to the roof of the vehicle. By rotating the connecting rod, the ladders are raised and rotated to ultimately reside alongside to and parallel to the side of the vehicle.
While the ladder rack described in the '912 patent works well with vans, sport utility vehicles and sedan-type automobiles, a difficultly arises if the ladders are to be transported atop a truck box because a person standing on the ground cannot conveniently grasp and remove heavy ladders from the rack even when positioned along side the vehicle. This is because the top of the truck box is typically so high off the ground that the workmen cannot readily reach and remove the ladders from the rack.
Thus, a need exists for an improved ladder rack for use on truck-type utility vehicles that can be operated to shift one or more ladders from a stowed location atop a tool box or roof surface of a utility truck to a significantly lowered disposition along side of and parallel to the side of the truck at an elevation that permits a workman, standing on the ground, to reach and safely lift the ladders off from the rack.